Name

Distribution

Climatic Condition

Characteristic

Timber

Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests

• Along the coasts of Tamil Nadu.

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• Annual rainfall of 100 cm (mostly from the north-east monsoon winds in October – December).
• Mean annual temperature is about 28°C.
• The mean humidity is about 75 per cent.

• Short statured trees, up to 12 m high, with complete canopy.
• A closed but low canopy of grasses and shrubs.
• No canopy layer differentiation.
• Bamboos are rare /absent.
• The important species are jamun, tamarind, neem, etc.
• Most of the land under these forests has been cleared for agriculture or casuarina plantations.

• Important Species – Neem, Jamun, Khirni, Tamarind,
  Kokka, Ritha etc.

Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests

• Occur in an irregular wide strip running from the foot of the Himalayas to Kanyakumari except in Rajasthan, Western Ghats and West Bengal.
• Also found in Eastern Rajasthan, Kathiawar, rain shadow areas of Deccan Plateau, Central India and Punjab.

• Annual rainfall is 100-150 cm.
• Dry period relatively longer.
• On the wetter margins, it has a transition to the moist deciduous, while on the drier margins to thorn forests.

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• These are similar to moist deciduous forests and shed their leaves in dry season.
• The major difference is that they can grow in areas of comparatively less rainfall.
• They represent a transitional type – moist deciduous on the wetter side and thorn forests on the drier side.
• They have closed but uneven canopy.
• The forests are composed of a mixture of a few species of deciduous trees rising up to a height of 20 m.
• Undergrowth: Enough light reaches the ground to permit the growth of grass and climbers. It is shrubby and grassy.
• In the higher rainfall regions of the Peninsular plateau and the northern Indian plain, these forests have a parkland landscape i.e. trees are more stunted and widely spaced and are interspersed with patches of grass.
• In the western and southern part of Rajasthan, vegetation cover is very scanty due to low rainfall and overgrazing.
• Large tracts of this forest have been cleared for agricultural purposes.
• These forests have suffer from over grazing, fire, etc.

• The important species are teak, axle wood, rosewood, common bamboo, red sanders, laurel, satinwood, etc.

Tropical Thorn Forests

• Rajasthan, south-western Punjab, western Haryana, Kachchh and neighboring parts of Saurashtra.
• Such forests also grow on the leeside of the Western Ghats covering large areas of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
  and Tamil Nadu.

• Annual rainfall less than 75 cm.
• Humidity is less than 50 per cent.
• Mean temperature is 25°-30°C.

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• The trees are low (6 to 10 m maximum) and widely scattered.
• Acacias and Euphorbias are very prominent.
• The Indian wild date is common. Some grasses also grow in the rainy season.
• Plant life is highly specialized to adapt to the coarse and dry condition of this area with long roots, small leaves, stems that store water and prickly spines that discourage animals from touching them.
  
• Tussocky grass grows up to a height of 2 m as the undergrowth.
• Forest breaks down into xerophytic bushes and western Rajasthan grading into deserts.
• In these forests, Plant remains leafless for the most part of the year and give an expression of scrub vegetation.

• The important species are neem, babul, cacti, etc.

Name

Distribution

Climatic Condition

Characteristic

Timber

Sub-tropical Broad-leaved Hill
Forests

• Eastern Himalayas to the east of 88°E longitude at altitudes varying from 1000 to 2000 m.
• Also occurs at lower slopes of the Himalaya in Bengal
  and Assam and on other hill ranges such as Nilgiri, Khasi etc. but are changed or destroyed.

• Mean annual rainfall – 75 – 125 cm.
• Average annual temperature is 18°-21°C.
• Humidity is 80%

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• Forests of evergreen species.
• Commonly found species are evergreen oaks, chestnuts, ash, beech, sals and pines.
• Climbers and epiphytes [a plant that grows non-parasitically on a tree or other plant] are common.
• These forests are not so distinct in the southern parts of the country. They occur only in the Nilgiri and Palni hills at 1070-1525 m above sea level.
• It is a “stunted rain-forest” and is not as luxuriant as the true tropical evergreen.

• Important Species – Oak, Chestnuts, Ash, Beech, Sal
  and Pines.

Sub-tropical Moist Pine Forests

• Western Himalayas between 73°E and 88°E longitudes.
• Some hilly regions of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Naga Hills and Khasi Hills.

• Occurs at elevations between 1000 to 2000 m above sea level.

• These forests are almost pure stand throughout their Zone distribution.
• The under-storey is also not pronounced.
• There is often a grassy floor with bulbous plants and little undergrowth, except for stunted evergreen oaks in wetter areas.

• Chir or Chil is the most dominant tree which forms pure stands.
• It provides valuable timber for furniture, boxes and buildings.
• It is also used for producing resin and turpentine.
• In Kashmir, Wild olives are common.

Sub-tropical Dry Evergreen
Forests

• Found in the Bhabar, the Shiwaliks and the western Himalayas up to about 1000 m above sea level.

• Annual rainfall is 50-100 cm (15 to 25 cm in December-March).
• The summers are sufficiently hot and winters are very cold.

• Low scrub forest with small evergreen stunted trees and shrubs.

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• Olive, acacia modesta and pistachios are the most predominant species.

Name

Distribution

Climatic Condition

Characteristic

Timber

Montane Wet Temperate Forests

• Higher hills of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, in the Eastern Himalayan region.
• Nilgiri, Palni and Annamalai hills of south India.

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• Grows at a height of 1800 to 3000 m above sea level.
• Mean annual rainfall is 150 – 300 cm.
• Mean annual temperature is about 11°C to 14°C.
• Average relative humidity – over 80%

• These are closed evergreen forests. Trunks have large girth.
• Branches are clothed with mosses, ferns and other epiphytes.
• The trees rarely achieve a height of more than 6 m.
• Trees are short and the underground is dense with abundance of Mosses and epiphytes.

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Important Species -Deodar, Chilauni, Indian chestnut, birch, plum, machilus, cinnamon, litsea, magnolia, blue pine, oak, hemlock, etc.

Himalayan Moist Temperate
Forests

• Occurs in the temperate zone of the Himalayas between 1500 and 3300 m.
• Cover the entire length of this mountain range in
  Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Darjeeling and Sikkim.

• Annual rainfall varies from 150 cm to 250 cm
• Height of 1500 to 3300 m above mean sea level.

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• Mainly composed of coniferous species.
• Species occur in mostly pure strands.
• Trees are 30 to 50 m high.
• They form high but fairly open forest with shrubby undergrowth including oaks, rhododendrons and some bamboos.

• It provides fine wood which is of much use for construction, timber and railway sleepers.
• Pines, cedars, silver firs, spruce, etc. are most
  important trees.

Himalayan Dry Temperate Forests

• Such forests are found in the inner dry ranges of the
  Himalayas where south-west monsoon is very feeble.
• Such areas are in Ladakh, Lahul, Chamba, Kinnaur,
  Garhwal and Sikkim.

• Precipitation is below 100 cm and is mostly in the form of snow.

• Coniferous forests with xerophytic shrubs in which deodar, oak, ash, olive, etc. are the main trees.
• Epiphytes and Climbers are rare.
• Coniferous trees are tall, straight with narrow needle like leaves.
• Most of the coniferous trees are evergreen but some are deciduous in nature like Larch.

• Important Species – Deodar, Oak, Olive, Maple, Ash etc.